50 Sheds of Grey spoof leaves original in the shade: Book outsells original in past two weeks

50 Sheds of Grey spoof leaves original in the shade: Book outsells original in past two weeksPastiche that skewers Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon outsells original over last fortnightThe book follows a man torn between his wife's sexual adventurism and spending time in his beloved shed

PUBLISHED:

23:32 GMT, 23 December 2012

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UPDATED:

23:33 GMT, 23 December 2012

An erotic book based around a garden shed does not sound like an instant bestseller.

But when it is a clever parody of this year’s most talked about racy novel, it is a recipe for success.

Fifty Sheds of Grey, a spoof of Fifty Shades of Grey, has been out-selling the original in recent weeks.

It is one of dozens of satires published following the success of the Fifty Shades trilogy, dubbed ‘mummy porn’.

Parody: Fifty Sheds of Grey has outsold E.L. James' erotic original Fifty Shades of Grey in the last two weeks

Fifty Sheds has sold 41,000 copies in the last two weeks, while E.L. James’s novel sold 29,000.

Written under the pseudonym Colin Trevor Grey, it tells the story of a middle-aged man who is ‘thrust into an illicit world of pleasure and pain’ after his wife reads Fifty Shades.

He finds himself caught between his wife’s eagerness to try new things in the bedroom and ‘the love between a man and his shed’.

The book spawned from a Twitter account which used gardening-related euphemisms to mimic the plotline of the erotic trilogy.

Satire: Fifty Sheds gently mocks the Fifty Shades phenomenon by chronicling the love between a man and his shed

Grey, who is keeping his identity a secret for now, describes himself as a Yorkshire-based author in his forties.

His tweets include observations such as: ‘Bondage is so much easier now we’re older. I used to have to blindfold her, now I just hide her glasses.’

James’s original Fifty Shades, which follows a love affair between nave Anastasia Steele and businessman Christian Grey, has sold 4.5million copies in the UK.

… AND THE OTHER PARODY TRIBUTES

Fifty Shames of Earl Grey: Young, arrogant tycoon Earl Grey seduces Anna Steal with his good looks and staggering amounts of money. But will she be able to get past his fifty shames, including a love of bondage with handcuffs, and shopping at non-luxury supermarkets

Fifty Shades of Gravy: When Vanessa Biscuits attends a cookery class with the renowned Chef Gray, she finds him beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. Gray, unable to resist her slavish devotion to him, admits he wants her, but on his own peculiar terms: covered in gravy.

Fifty Shades of Garbage: Marcia and Joe are swept up in the Fifty Shades mania that has seduced the middle-classes. While Marcia devours the novels, Joe scorns them – while secretly listening to the audiobooks on his commute.